Chasing Sparks
by Clockwork Imagination
Summary: The world is so dark and confusing.. It seems like everyone has their own spark of light to chase after. Their hopes, dreams.. But when a young human wanders into the Autobots' life, it seems they have not found a spark, but a hidden flame...
1. A Single Touch

Chasing Sparks

The night was just beginning and the city was pretty quiet.. Well, in the neighborhood part of town it was. Not much activity ever really happened at this time of night; especially here. Well, there had been that one dude who did graffiti on sombody's car the other weekend, but thta was only because all the teenage kids had gotten out of school for the summer and they were all so excited.. Among these young people was a girl. Her name was Vivi. Or at least that's what everybody called her. She wasnt what you'd call your average prep or highschool girl.. She was what the teens would classify as a "goth", and despite what others said/thought she was pretty intelligent for her age.. In reading, not math. She hated math. With a passion.

On that particular night, however, she was pretty happy, a feeling of deep excitment in her gut. She had the whole summer. Two and a half months with no school. The thought tickled her inside as she ran upstairs to her room, taking off her "school clothes"; a pair of black baggy Tripp shorts, and a black tanktop with fishnet sleeves. She had a black beanie on, but didnt take that off yet. In her underwear she walked across the room toward her bathroom to take a shower... She stoped at the mirror to look at her self and rubbed her belly area, sighing. To her slight disappointment, she'd gained a slight bit of weight during the school year. Oh well. She would work it off this summer when she went to swim practice with her cousins. That was always fun, and she looked forward to it. It started next week. She puffed out another sigh and walked into the bathroom. It took her an average of 20 minutes to take a shower, get dressed into her Invader Zim pajamas, and get her toothbrush out. She was about to brush her teeth, but stopped. Maybe a nice chocolate chip cookie that her mother had made a batch of earlier that day would be nice. Walking down the stars in her socks, she was vey careful not to slip. She had been careless many times and fell on the stairs. It was embarassing to admit to anyone that she had fallen on the stairs over 4 times... Mostly because her father would never let her live that one down.. He had an annoying tendancy to joke around a bit too much at the wrong time.. Chuckling, she descended the last few steps, without falling, and did a little victory dance, only to almost fall on the wooden floor in the living room. Regaining her balance, she looked around quickly and started walking out of the living room stiffly as if nothing had happened.

Sitting up in her room, about 3 minutes later, she was on her favorite website, deviantART. She was in the middle of making an abnormally long reply to a comment on one of her pictures, when the electricity fluctuated and the power went out for a few seconds. Her heart skipped a beat and she looked up at the light as it flickered back on. After the initial surprise was over, she looked back at the computer screen and silently mouthed the work 'damnit'. Her computer had restarted and she'd lost everything she'd just typed. She looked back up at the light as it started flickering again. Suddenly, outside there was a loud electrical sound. She dashed out the door to the concrete balcony which jutted out a good six feet from the apartment building she lived in.

"Whoa!" She shouted, ducking back into her doorway just as a shower of sparks flew onto the balcony. She approached the closed window carefully, and peered out to see what had caused it. The sight that greeted her was something that would remain imprinted on her memory forever. Two robots, one extremely large,colored red and blue, and another, smaller black one, perched atop a telephone pole. Electricity emanated from it that made sparks fly from itself whenever it moved. She watched in amazement and slight fear as the bigger robot threw a vicious punch at the smaller robot, but missed. The small one was too fast to be caught with such a predictable move. Vivi was a definite combat video game junkie, so she knew the basics of fighting. 1; You had to be fast and unpredictable, or you'd get clobbered. 2; You needed a lot of strength to back up your fast and unpredictable-ness or you'd get thrashed. 3; Never give up. You may lose a battle, but you will never lose a war if you're determined. Or you'd get killed.

She had heard of these... Robots before.. She didnt remember what they were called, because she didnt read the paper, or watch the news, and she didnt listen to all the crazy rumors and gossip that went on at her school. In short, she was pretty tuned out to what was happening in the world. The hair on the back of her neck raised slightly when a loud shriek came from outside. The little robot had somehow gotten ahold of the other and was sending a very powerful electrical current into him. She frowned. Not good. She was sure that if something didnt happen in favor of he larger robot, he was toast. It occured to her that electricity was like fire if there was a limited amount of it. It could be put out with water. Acting entirely on that notion, she darted downstairs, nat caring about slipping that time, and skidded across the tile floor in the kitchen as she tried to stop by the sink. The cupboard below the sink had a lot of tools and stuff, and she remembered seeing a bucket. Luckily for her, it was still there. A very large, red plastic bucket that her father used for... For God knows what. She grabbed it, dumping the bottles of cleaner and whatnot onto the floor, not caring to pick up herm ess. She'd do that later. Using the sink, she filled it with water and ran out of the kitchen, careful not to spill very much of it. Her parents were gone for the night and she'd have liked to keep this scenario a secret if possible. Up the stairs again, even more so careful here, as to not make the steps slippery. As she came to her room, and the balcony, she was releived to see that the big robot was still somewhat okay. She kicked the sliding door open and rushed to the side of the balcony, leaning over slightly so she'd be closer. She had to hit that little bastard head on if she had any hope of this plan working. After a three second count, she threw the water and it did hit it head on. It took the entire contents of the bucket srtaight in the face and the electricity it had been using fizzled out. This opportunity gave the larger robot a chance to grab the little robot and smash it into the ground. That did inflict some damage, but not enough to kill. It ended up squirming out of his grasp and getting away. The larger robot seemed to have been about to chase after it, but hesitated. It was a lost cause... He was not in the best shape to be chasing after such a fast little thing, not to mention the human who was standing on the balsony, staring at him. He had yet to thank her for the help. Without her he'd probably be.. Well.... Toast. Turning his attention to her, he noticed that she was still sort of leaning over the balcony, probably mezmerized by him. It was hard not to stare if you'd never seen a being like him before.. He knew that. Gently he reached out and, using merely a single finger, nudged her back onto the balcony so she wouldnt fall. She seemed to snap out of her trance and shook her head before jumping backward, startled. She'd not expected any reaction from him to her act of bravery, even less had she expected him to touch her. She blinked before saying,

"Uhhh... U-hum.. H-hey there...." He looked at her and nodded slightly, as if acepting her greeting, and proceeded to make one of his own.

"Hello. Thank you for your help, I owe you a great deal for-" He started, but Vivi interrupted him.

"What? O-oh, no, really, forget about it, I'm just too big of a softie to sit and watch something like that happen..." She said, a little too quickly so she sounded a little nervous. She never really talked to anyone, much less a giant robot, so of course she was nervous. His voice sounded a lot different than she'd thought it would... The robot paused for a slight moment, most likely thinking about her reply.. Finally he looked at her, and she could see a certain softness in his gaze that portrayed something close to a romantic look, or the way friends might look at eachother.

"What's your name?" He asked. She blinked and smiled a little.

"Call me Vivi." She said, sticking out her hand, and realising a few moments later how stupid that was. How in the flying flehoodle were they going to shake hands? It just didnt seem possible, considering size differences. She was surprised when he very gently took her hand in two fingers, returning the friendly gesture without a second thoguht about size. As they each let each other's hands go, there was a slight, but comfortable moment of silence. Vivi looked down at her feet for a moment and then back up at her new friend.

"And.. What can I call you?" She asked, smiling and tilting her head a little bit.

"I am Optimus Prime." He answered flatly, as if there was nothing special about telling sombody his name. Vivi chuckled, more in excitement than anything else.

"Nice. It definitely fits you." She grew a little bolder, now that they knew each other's names. She approached him a little slowly, and sat on the edge of the balcony, swinging her legs off the edge. The two were now a mere three feet from eachother.

"So you're a..." She couldnt remember what they were called..

"Autobot." He replied softly. Vivi nodded.

"Yes, that's it..." She said very quietly and reached out slowly. She had a habit of not really understanding the reality of something unless she could feel it.. Connect with it.. Her hand brushed against the cold metal surface of his forehead before making full contact. Her natural warmth seemed to pulse from her hand, through his head and throughout the rest of his cold metal body. It was an almost magical moment as a connection of some sort took over them. Optimus leaned very slightly into her touch, feeling a yearning deep inside for more of that warmth that emanated from her. Everything was silent for a few minutes, but Vivi was the one to break the calmness.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	2. A Single Glance

"Oh... Wait.. I- I have to go.. And you'd better get out of here. My parents will be home soon and, well... I haven't a clue as to what they'd think..." She said, pulling away and swinging herself back over to the balcony floor again. He backed up a little, looking confused. Vivi got goosebumps when she heard the engine of a car coming in her direction from down the street. She leaned over the side of the balcony and gave him a light push on the forehead.. It wasn't like she could possibly move him, but that definitely meant she wanted him gone.

"Go on! Shoo!" She said in an almost hushed tone. He nodded and turned to leave, but before he'd even taken a step or gotten a chance to transform, she called out,

"Wait!" He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Come and visit me okay? I want us to be friends... And I want learn more about you and your cohorts." She smiled warmly. He nodded again.

"Of course, Vivi." He said. She felt a little shiver of excitement go through her when he said that. She looked down the road, and saw some headlights come around the corner.

"Uh oh, you'd better skedaddle! Bye!" She ran back into her room and shut the sliding door. She looked out the window just in time to see him transform into his truck form. After he'd started to drive away she watched, openmouthed, and finally murmured,

"Wow, that is so badass!" She smiled a little, then turned and ran to her bed, jumping on it and laying on her back. The ceiling fan's blades or "leaves", which had been bought especially for her room's theme-tropical island-spun around and she watched them for a while before finally hearing her parents come in the front door.

"Hey Vi! You upstairs?" Her mother's voice called up the stairs.

"Yes mom!" She called back. She got up and walked to the stairway. Her mother was at the bottom, holding a white paper bag of something.

"We brought you some dinner if you're hungry." She said. Vivi then remembered the cookie she'd never eaten and decided that dinner was a better idea anyway.

"Okay, what did you get?" She asked, sauntering down the stairs and following her mother into the kitchen, where her sister and father were eating their dinner.

"In 'n Out Burger. A cheeseburger with no tomatoes is what you like, right?" Her mom asked. Vivi nodded.

"Yep, that's it." She sat down on her side of the table, the right side, and dug around in the paper bag for her sandwich. In n' Out Burger was so good, and she hadnt had anything to eat since lunch, so she was finished in less than four minutes. Usually she was a pretty slow eater, just in general, but this was an exception. After she'd finished, she put the dishes in the dishwasher away, and went into the toyroom. Well, it was a spare room called the toyroom because all the board games, table games, and video games were kept in it. She plopped down on the couch and started to play her new Ghostbusters video game. She liked the PS2 better than any other gaming system, mostly because she'd grown up playing it, and knew it better than anything else. Every time she played this game though, she couldn't help but think it would be so much more fun if you could create your own character instead of choosing one out of two already created for the game.. Nevertheless, she played it and enjoyed it for over an hour, then decided she was done with it and wanted to do something else. Her family was in the living room watching TV, so she went in to join them. She wasn't sure what the movie was, but it was interesting so she stayed to watch. After 30/40 minutes, she fell asleep.

"Hey, Vi. Hey come on, we're all going to bed now.." Her mother shook her awake. Vivi sat up and rubbed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. Slowly she made her way up to her room and hopped into her bed, casting one small glance out the window before snuggling into the blankets and falling asleep...

The next morning nothing much happened. She had a routine pretty much organized for what she did in the morning. Get up. Get dressed. Have breakfast. Watch TV. Go outside. Nothing ever really changed in her routine except for on Sunday. They all went to Church on Sunday.. But today was Wednesday, Ghostbusters T-shirt and baggy jeans day.. After completing her routine, she went out into the city, on a little quest of her own to find something fun to do. She already had a couple places in mind. Riding a bike was fun, and there was a park down near Thousand Acre apartments. Grabbing her bicycle, she rode down to that general area. To her dismay there was some sort of gang using the skate park that she liked to ride in, and apparently they wouldn't let anyone else use it either. She sighed, sitting there on her bike in a mood of disappointment for a few moments, then frowned. No, these guys wouldn't be able to get away with this. Not on her watch. She rode her bike up to the skate park and got off, leaning the bicycle against a tree nearby.

"Hey! Can I join you guys?" She asked. One of the older teen boys came up to her on his skateboard and stopped a few feet from her. He was a big guy, probably near 6 feet tall, with an athletic build. He was wearing a black sweatjacket, black jeans, and white tennis shoes.

"Hah! I don't think so, pipsqueak!" He said, in an almost mocking tone. Vivi's blood boiled.

"If you know what's best for you you will NOT call me names." She said venomously, emphasizing her words with a stomp of her foot. The older boy backed off a little, but wasn't done.

"Oh, is that so? Whatcha gonna do? Run home to your daddy?" He taunted. Vivi was ready to do some serious ass-kicking, but when the boy teasing her suddenly started to back away, looking very scared, she was confused. She hadn't even done anything... But as a huge shadow fell over her, she realized that it wasn't her that he was afraid of. Slowly she turned around. Her heart beat fast for a moment, but she relaxed and grew much calmer when she realized who it was.

"Yo, Optimus! Watcha doin here buddy?" She said, looking up at the huge Autobot. He crouched down and said,

"The Decepticon I was fighting last night.. He's in the area. I just stopped by to make sure you were safe." The older teenage boy and his friends backed away slowly, all staring at the Autobot. Vivi turned to look at them and smirked. She definitely could use this surprise visit to her advantage.

"Hey guys, can I have a turn in the skate park please?" She asked. The older boys didn't seem to have a problem with that this time, and left quickly. Vivi grinned smugly but the expression was wiped off her face after a loud crash and the sound of screams came from far off to the right. Optimus stood up straight and looked around.

"Vivi, you and your friends are going to need to get out of here. Go home and stay indoors, it's not safe to be out." He was about to turn around, but before he could a lamppost came flying through the air and hit him in the back of the head with a loud scratching, metallic sound that would have made you want to curl your fingers and cringe in distress. He flinched a little bit but it hardly affected him. After a moment of seeming a bit dazed, he shook his head and whirled around, converting into his truck form and charging toward the current focus of the uproar. Vivi watched, rubbing the back of her head a bit as if the hit had hurt her too.

"Damn.. He can take a hit..." She paused, then turned towards the other kids.

"Okay, you heard him! Let's go! The library's not far from here, we should be able to stay there and be safe." She said. No one protested to that idea. The small pack of them ran through the trees of the park, sticking in a tight group, so no one would get separated. No one wanted to go out and test their luck against a 7/8 foot tall robot that could rip lampposts out of the ground. They all came to an immediate halt when a large yellow and black robot came crashing, rather ungracefully, through the trees. He tripped on a fallen branch and fell down, just adding to his ungracefulness. After a slight second he picked himself up and shook himself off a bit, getting the leaves out of his armor. Vivi backed up slightly, rather frightened. She was feisty alright, but she wasn't stupid. She wouldn't take on something that could crush her in two seconds flat. However, her fears disappeared in seconds when Optimus, from not far away, shouted to her;

"Don't worry! He's here to help!" The yellow bot made a gesture that signaled for Vivi and company to follow. The small pack complied eagerly. The yellow bot did his very best to protect them from the random flying objects that seemed to be coming from the direction of Optimus and the Decepticons' battle, and ushered other bystanders toward the library as well. It wasn't long before they'd all gotten to the library. The yellow bot, "Clumsy" as Vivi had nicknamed him for the current moment, stood by as the group of them ran into the library. Vivi was only halfway across the street, being at the back of the group to make sure everyone got in safely. She was cut off midstride by a huge mechanical foot slamming down onto the concrete in front of her so hard the pavement broke. She let out a scream and scrambled backward, looking up at the huge robot who barred her way, terror striking deep into her heart as she took in the sight of it. It was NOT a good guy. She could tell. It/he was huge, and far more menacing than "Clumsy" or even Optimus had been at first sight. She didn't think, she acted on instinct. She ran. She ran as she had not since she was a small girl playing tag in the park. The pounding of her heart thumped in her ears and her rhythmic breathing matched up to the thudding of her footsteps. She skidded to a halt however, when the robot easily got in her way again. She felt a little dizzy, looking up into the dark, ominous part of the robot that was its' head. She backed up, a little quickly, and immediately the robot's guns were pointed at her. She swallowed, thinking that this was her last moment of life. What a way for it to end... She closed her eyes and clenched her fists, ready to die, but death didn't come. Instead, a huge metal fist closed around her arms and torso, squeezing so tightly she could barely breathe. She gasped, eyes snapping open.

"Gaauuhhh!!!" She kicked and screamed, to no avail. The yellow bot rushed towards them, but did not get there in time. The Decepticon holding Vivi whirled around and threw her. She curled up slightly and tried not to throw up as she hurtled through the air. She was too dizzy to think about whether or not this was the end of her life, and was also almost too dizzy to feel herself being caught and brought to a gentle stop by another pair of smaller metal hands. The yellow bot was quite a bit faster than he'd first depicted himself to be. Ever so gently he cradled the human teenager in his arm and fled the area. The Decepticon did not bother to follow. What was one more dead human to him anyway?

TO BE CONTINUED . . .


	3. iContact

Yo :D I've wanted to do this, so from now on, I'll be posting chapter theme songs. Whether or not you want to listen to them or not is up to you, but I thought it sounded fun

This chapter's theme song is: _**Group 1 Crew - iContact**_

The yellow bot stopped after he was sure they were clear of the battle area. They were now in a nice park, very lush and green and untouched by the destruction of the battle. There were some people milling around but at sight of the yellow bot, they eitehr screamed and pointed, ran, or did both. He didn't seem to mind. That was the kind of attention he was used to. He walked up to a patch of grass and plopped down, laying Vivi out on the grass. She was awake, but very, very dazed, and an overwhelming dizziness took over her when she tried to get up. She looked over at the yellow bot, who was leaning over her, head tilted to the side slightly. She blinked twice. She tried to get up again, and noticed that the dizziness was going away..

"Mmmmhhh..." She muttered, rubbing her head. "That was insane..." She shook her head again and slowly brought herself to her feet, wobbling slightly, but quickly gaining her balance. She looked over at the yellow robot and smiled a bit.

"Th-thanks... I thought I was a goner...." He gave her a thumbs up sign as if saying 'you're welcome'.

--

The cement cracked under the huge Decepticon's feet as he landed heavily. Despite the fact that Optimus was smaller than he, the Autobot was pretty damn strong. A good whack to the face and he'd sent the Decepticon sprawling backward. He glared at Optimus heatedly after regaining his balance.

"You little bastard... I'm gonna scrap you!" He shouted, lunging at the Autobot, arms transforming into huge drills as he did. Optimus groaned, knowing he'd not be able to get fully out of the way in time. He tried, but one of the drills caught his arm and nearly took it right off. He held in a shout and did a small somersault, clutching his now useless arm. He came up in a crouched position, glaring back at the Decepticon. The odds were definitely not in his favor now. He looked around frantically, and picked up the first empty car he saw, which a young man with a set of keys was standing next to. He froze, dropping his keys, and stared openmouthed as the giant robot took his car.

"Sorry about this." Optimus said, not noticing that the car was on and he'd accidentally crushed the gas tank. It went up in flames and was about to explode, but he caught it before it did.

"Oh crap!!" He shouted and threw it at the Decepticon, and it exploded in a shower of flames, sparks and shards of glass as it hit the robot's chest. After the cloud of smoke began to clear a bit, it revealed that the fight was not over yet. He had gotten his entire arm, and a part of his shoulder blown off, but was still functional. His flickering red optics burned with fury. He let out a barbaric scream and darted at Optimus, attacking him savagely with every weapon in his arsenal. The Autobot couldn't retaliate, there were no openings to attack, and each attack was so insanely fast and powerful, he couldn't even get away. After taking an appalling amount of damage, there was a momentary cease, and he used it to his advantage. Scrambling away from the larger bot, he came across the Decepticon's "drill" arm. If he hooked up one of the wires from his broken arm to the drill, it would still work... Quickly doing so, he pulled himself to his feet and came at his enemy as fast as possible, kicking the huge bot's legs hard enough to trip him. Perhaps the Decepticon may have been bigger, but Optimus had an advantage, being smaller and faster. He put his foot on the grounded bot's chest and put the ominously whirring drill a dangerous few inches from his enemy's face. He didn't finish it off though. There was a slight pause, as the two looked straight into each other's eyes. For a moment Optimus hesitated. The Decepticon's darkly shining red eyes seemed to stare straight into him. His thoughts.. His very being...

"Go on... Do it." He snarled into the Autobot's face. Optimus seemed to snap out of his trance and looked down at his opponent. That moment of eye contact had thrown him off... And he couldn't seem to find the incentive to kill anymore. The busily whirring drill slowly came away from the Decepticon's face a few feet...

But less that a moment later in came down on his head, drilling straight through and he shut down. Optimus let out a loud sigh. It had to be done. Slowly he pushed himself up, yanking the drill from his own power cord and tossing it to where the rest of the thrashed Decepticon lay. There were a few people creeping out from hiding spots in buildings and whatnot, but none approached where the two robots were. Except for one; a woman with long black hair, wearing a very nice black skirt, white shirt, black high-heels, and black jacket. Optimus didn't notice her, but she was approaching the Decepticon's broken off arm. It was still smoking from the friction of drilling through it's owner's own head. She looked at it intently, and smiled.

"Such power... Such..." She paused and looked up at Optimus, who looked pretty amazing from her angle, being so small compared to him. "Such magnificence..." Her grin widened and she ran over to the Decepticon's smashed head. Some fragments of the machines he'd used to process some of his most important senses were still there. She set to gathering a few little pieces, placing them in her briefcase. Looking around to make sure no one saw what she'd done, she scurried off, clutching the briefcase tight to her chest...

--

"_AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!_ What the fudging hedge happened to your _ARM!!_" Vivi shouted, running toward Optimus as he approached the girl and the yellow bot. He held it tightly so it wouldn't fall off.

"Don't get so worked up, I'll live. I-" He was interrupted when Vivi smacked his ankle. To him she'd barely tapped him, but she seemed to think that maybe she could get across how very agitated she was by doing something like that.

"No! You are not okay! Sit down!" He looked at her, hesitating for a moment, but she shouted again, "Sit down!" In a much more aggressive tone. He immediately sat down in the grass.

"Vivi..." He muttered, feeling slightly annoyed. He'd barely met the girl and already he could tell that she was extremely controlling and aggressive. No doubt. She stood up to a guy in the park who was older, taller and stronger than her, and she wasn't afraid to boss a giant robot around either. He sighed as she scrambled over to his side, probably to inspect the damage. She got a puff of smoke right in the face and backed up, coughing and covering her nose with her shirt.

"Oh, jeez! That was bad!" She coughed a it more but was soon chuckling slightly as she examined the damage.

"That reminds me of the time I was using my sister's computer and it started putting out a bad smell.. It smelled like burnt tacos." She said, cocking her head to the side. Optimus uttered a slight chuckle. The others might enjoy this girl's company, despite her temper. She was pretty fun to be around.. And those moments of peace like the previous night, when she was quiet and friendly, those were like little slices of heaven... He flinched slightly, feeling a pang of concern when he felt a small touch near the gash in his arm.

"Don't!" He all but shouted, afraid she might get electrocuted, but nothing happened.. The visible electricity swirled around her little fingers, not hurting her at all. She drew her hand away and it followed, forming into a little ball of light. She looked at it intently, eyes sparkling with curiosity. Optimus was watching too, appalled at this. That was not something humans could do, and he knew it. The yellow bot was mesmerized as well, and tilted his head slightly. Vivi put her hand up to her face and blew on the little ball gently. It blew off her hand gracefully, and slowly disappeared into the air. She looked at her hand and blinked, before looking up and pressing it onto Optimus' arm. He watched in amazement as slowly, some of the broken wires and whatnot began to animate themselves.. Or, rather, with the help of Vivi. They began to reconnect, stringing themselves together and merging, healing themselves. After at least six different parts of his injured arm were healed, she stopped, and stumbled backward, falling onto her back with a light thud. Her brown-green eyes flickered closed, and she looked very tired.

"Vivi!" Optimus shouted, but Vivi opened her eyes a bit, a weak smile on her face.

"I'm o..kay.." She stuttered out. He reached out to her, but stopped. He didn't want to touch her. For some reason he didn't feel okay with it, and was pretty sure she wouldn't have been okay with it either if she was conscious. There was a moment of silence, in which the only action was the yellow bot moving over closer to Vivi, in a protective way. For a minute or tow it remained this way, but when the sudden sound of sirens coming their way blared through the air, both of the Autobots jumped a little and looked anxiously in the direction the noise was coming from. Several police cars swerved around the corner and sped up to them, sirens blasting. They skidded to a halt in front of the two, and quite a few officers got out, with various guns and miscellaneous weaponry. Optimus felt another pang of concern. The humans couldn't do much but some dents and paint damage with their guns and whatnot, but Vivi was in danger. It wouldn't take much to kill her. Optimus wouldn't take any chances though.

"Wait, there's a girl with us." He said carefully. One of the policemen hollered to his cohorts,

"Hold your fire." Optimus slowly nudged Vivi, hoping she'd wake up. It didn't work. He grumbled a few Cybertronian curse words under his breath and muttered to his partner,

"Bumblebee, transform and get Vivi out of here, I can take care of myself from here on out. Take her to the rundown toy factory, I'll meet you there." The yellow bot, Bumblebee, nodded once, transforming immediately, opening the back door. A few policemen shot at him, but the bullets only grazed the hood of the car, making a few scratch marks. Optimus gently slipped his hand underneath Vivi, putting her carefully into the backseat. The door shut and locked, and Bumblebee sped off, right around the police cars and off through the streets, swerving perilously around other cars and whatnot. Optimus jumped up into a standing position and flexed the arm Vivi had healed. Not bad, it worked at least; except for one or two fingers, but that was fine, that could get fixed later. Then, after casting one last glance at the yellow car, he transformed as well, charging off the opposite direction that Bumblebee had gone. He had to distract them for now, while Bee got away with Vivi…

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. Small And Soft

Woot! 4th chapter!

Woot! 4th chapter!

This chapter's themesong is _**Origa - Electra's Song**_

The office was empty, but she had a key, so sneaking in wasnt hard. The woman in black ascended the stairs, briefcase still clutched to her chest. She ran down a hallway, her high heels making loud taps on the tile floor, and shoved the glass door open. Walking over to her desk on the far side of the wall, she put the briefcase down on it and opened it, shoving all the papers out of the way and carefully taking out the pieces of the Decepticon she'd gathered. Oddly, they seemed to glow with a strange greenish light in the dark room, as if they were broken, but the power that had once surged through them was not entirely gone. Her eyes glittered with something in a cross of lust for their power, and awe. 'Humans,' she thought. 'Are eons away from creating anything like this...' After staring at them for a moment, she slowly moved the broken pieces together, and realised that she'd put together a memory chip of sorts. It was broken, of course, so she sat down in her swivel chair, and began thinking of ways it could be fixed... Or if it could be used for anything else. She couldnt think of anything for a while, but suddenly, she got an idea. Perhaps she could do a little reasearch...

--

It had been at least five minutes since Bee had arrived at the wrecked toy factory. He'd gotten a little bored standing around, waiting for Optimus to get there... If he was even coming.. He shook his head and leaned against the side of the building. It was abandoned anyway, it wouldnt matter if he did any more damage to it. His wandering gaze drifted over to Vivi, who was lying in a patch of soft grass. She wasn't awake yet. He began to wonder if she was in a coma or something.. The healing she'd done on Optimus' arm had been pretty amazing, but apparently it had taken a lot out of her. He trotted over, crouching down beside her and tilting his head slightly. Lazily he reached out and stroked her hair with a finger. It was soft. He drew his hand away and looked at her intently for a moment. He couldnt help but think what odd little things humans were. They had the strangest customs and cultures; not to mention how they seemed to fear, or try to kill anything that was different than them. Well, not this one though. She seemed pretty accepting of everything different.. After another few moments of simply looknig at her, he reached out and picked her up, ever so gently. She was very limp and one of her frail little arms draped over the side of his cupped hands. Very suddenly he felt extremely protective. She was so small and soft.. And fragile; very fragile. Suddenly she stirred. With a small frown she opened her eyes and sat up, looking around before looking up at Bumblebee.

"Where are we..? What happened? Did you take me here?" She asked. He nodded. She sighed and rubbed her head.

"This is the second time today you've saved me. I really owe you one now." She then realised he was holding her and she furrowed her eyebrows a bit.

"Put me down, please." She said. He felt a little sheepish as he lowered her to the ground. He shouldnt have held her like that. She got up and hopped off, dusting herself off.

"My parents are gonna freak, I'm out in town when the news is probably giving them all the details of the fight... Including when that moron threw me.. Oh god, how am I gonna explain this...?" She paced back and forth, getting rather anxious. Bee was about to say something, but she started ranting again.

"And how am I going to get home? I don't even know where I am! You can't take me back home. If you do, what the heck am I gonna say when I'm standing in front of my parents with a giant robot?! 'Can I keep him?'! Ha! That's frickin' ridiculous! This is insane! Insane! I left my bike at the park and it's probably just a little pile of scrap meta-" Her words were drowned out when a red and blue semi truck skidded around the corner, and transformed. Of course, it was Optimus, and he did a sort of clumsy somersault before stumbling to his feet. Vivi raised an eyebrow, making a rather surprised face, and it didnt go unnoticed.

"Don't look at me like that, outrunning the police is not easy!" Optimus said a little impatiently, sitting down heavily. Vivi walked over quietly and examined his arm.

"How is it?" She asked. He looked down at her and then at his arm, moving it a little.

"It works.. What did you do? I didn't think humans could-"

"They can't." Vivi replied flatly. "So I was curious to know if you might have had some idea as to what I did... You know since you're an alien robot guy and all.." She shrugged. Optimus didnt really know what to do at that point so he shrugged as well. It was quiet as Vivi wandered over to a large concrete tube that had once been used for transporting water, and climbled up on top of it, sitting and watching the clouds go by. The sun was sinking low.. Not low enough to be called sunset just yet, but it was definitely getting rather late. She looked to the side, and picked up a broken doll lazily, examining it before tossing it away.

"Whatever these abilities are for, and however I have them, I'm going to practice and get better. Who knows, I might even have other abilities I was never aware of until today..." She smiled up at Optimus and continued,

"I'll hang out with you guys for a while... I want to know the full extent of my abilities... And maybe someday I'll be able to fight alongside you... Because, just as well as you, it seems there's more to me than meets the eye."

--

A few hours of computer research, for pictures, video clips and whatnot left her with nothing but useless facts. She'd have to get her information from elsewhere... She put teh broken pieces of teh memory chip into a plastic bag and put it in her briefcase. She mused on the thought of waiting until the next battle, and following the winner back to... Wherever these robots stayed. It sounded fairly do-able.. Although she would have to be very careful. They were obviously incredibly dangerous, and getting research done without disturbing them did not seem nearly as easy as simply finding their location. She blew a strand of black hair from her face. She stood up and left her office, locking the doors behind herself so no one else could get in.

"Let's see..." She murmured as she walked to her car, which had miraculously survived the fight, and got in. The pretty white sports car she drove had a nice interior; gray leather seats, high tuned radio, as well as a CD player and a tape player, which she'd had installed so she could listen to her books on tape. She didn't like the CD ones, they got lost too easily and they were a hassle to put in. Turning the key, the sleek little car hummed to life. She pulled out onto the road, going around the craters and cracked cement. As soon as she began to drive, she sighed and began to pay more attention to her car than anything else.. It seemed to stutter at slow speeds, but after getting up to at least 60 mph, it began to purr comfortably... Like it had a life of its own, it knew what it liked, and what it disliked. She chuckled. How ridiculous, she really needed to get these Transformers off her mind for a while and tend to her other business. She had an afterschool program she helped out with at her neighborhood's local elementary school and she'd definitely missed it. And it was the last day.. She sighed heavily. They were going to have a water fun day and she'd actually been looking forward to it. Water slides and little pools, and water balloon fights, pinatas, everything. It would have been fun.. But, she'd missed it and that was that, no need to go crying over spilt milk. She turned right sharply, almost missing her turn, and someone honked their horn at her. She gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Some people were so impatient... She continued looking at the road, trying not to get distracted again, but her gaze kept wandering over to the briefcase on the passenger's seat. She would find some way to fix those pieces.. If these robots were so advanced, obviously they'd know ways to fix their own body parts. Outside of the car, the scenery went from busy city, to suburban outskirts. She continued driving, to her large house out near the edge of the suburbs. She didnt get all the way there though.. There was someone waiting for her, ready to attack...

--

Vivi blinked up at the two new Autobots. They were all inside of the sturdiest half of the building now, since it was big enough to house them without them having to bend over.. Better to be safe than sorry. The police, or anyone else for that matter, wouldnt see them now if anyone chanced to come out that way.

"Uh-umm... Hi.." She said, smiling nervously, and waving slightly. The silver one crouched down.

"Hey there." He said, apparently just as excited to meet her as she was to meet him… Maybe not as nervous thoguh.. The other one, a slightly bigger, thicker robot, turned to Optimus and asked,

"This is it? This is the human who's been doing so much for you lately?" It sounded like he was surprised. Vivi felt a little offended by that. After nodding politely to the silver bot, she stood up from her perch on the large concrete tube and demanded,

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you surprised because I'm so young? Or is it just because I'm a woman?" Her tone was very sharp and accusing. All four robots looked down at her, then Optimus looked back at the other bot.

"You could have worded that differently. Despite being a friend and ally, she's very..." He paused, not wishing to offend her again. "Um.. A little short tempered.." The other bot looked at Vivi for a moment, then said in a rather gruff voice,

"Eh.. Fine.. I'm Ironhide, nice to finally meet you." She blinked, then smiled up at him sweetly.

"Ditto!" She then turned her attention to the silver bot.

"So, silver, what's your name?" He squatted down to her level and said,

"Jazz. And you're Vivi, huh?"

"That's my name."

"That's super-cute." He said lightly, gazing down at her with a look she couldnt quite figure out.. It was similar to the way Optimus had looked at her the first time.. A little excited, maybe? Whatever the reason, Vivi grinned embarrassedly. She didnt usually like the word cute, but he made it sound good.

"Thanks.. So, you're Jazz.. Cool name." She grinned. It would be fun getting to know her new friends..


	5. Soap And Water

I can't beleive I'm already on the 5th chapter! ... Another thing I can't beleive is how many people have added this story to their favorites, and there's only 1 review. Please, I really love getting reviews and whatnot, so if you're going to favorite, please leave a review to go along with it! I'd really, really appreciate that!

Themesong(s): _**Duran Duran - Rio **_and _**Papa Roach - Blood**_

Optimus Prime had met many strange beings in his lifetime, but Vivi took the cake. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was a flash of teal green hair; A flourish of music; The faintest scent of cotton candy. The Autobots didn't know what to make of her. They tried to pin her into one category they could understand, but it was no use. The mental "pin" would slip right through and away she ran. Her clothing was never the same. One day, she wore all black. The next day, she wore a flowy purple dress. She came everyday, on her bike, which had, after all, not been trashed. Bumblebee was usually gone when she was there.. Off with some, Sam person. It didnt really bother her, but she kind of wanted to meet whoever was Bee's friend. It had been at least a week now, and that particular day, she came in a short white, sleeveless dress, white fingerless gloves, black and white striped thigh-high stockings, a pair of black combat boots, and a tye dye bandanna on her head, pirate-style. With her she'd brought her dad's red bucket, filed with cleaning supplies, like dishsoap, a rag, a towel, some polishing wax and whatnot. She'd seen a hose teh last time she was there and it had given her an idea. She pulled up to the factory, hopping off her bike before it had come to a complete stop. She put the kickstand up and left it by the wall, walking around the corner into the large parking lot. Ironhide was there, just sort of standing aronud and staring at nothing in particular. The sky, perhaps. The others that she'd met were nowhere in sight. Undeterred, she marched straight up to him, smiling and waving sprightly.

"Good afternoon, Ironhide!" She called, and took off her backpack which she'd brought with her. It was a moment before he looked down and noticed her.

"Hunh..? Oh, it's you...." He grumbled, becoming visibly more grumpy than usual. She cocked her head to the side and grinned brightly.

"Where's everybody else? She asked. Ironhide glanced down at her.

"Prime's inside. Jazz and a couple've others took off this morning." He paused, looking at her. "Why do you always have to ask?" He grouched. Vivi put on her mildly annoyed, pouty face and said,

"I'm always curious..." She stopped, looking down, then murmuring, "So, where's Bee?" She did that mostly just to pester him because she knew that the answer would be. Ironhide stared at her for a moment, then started to walk away. Vivi smirked and chased after him, grabbing onto his foot and held on as he walked.

"Hey! Wait! I brought some stuff to make you nice and shiny clean! Can I wash you! Please!?" She said excitedly. Ironhide stopped and lifted his foot slightly, glaring at teh little human clinging to it.

"No." He replied flatly, and lowered his foot so she could get off.

As Vivi wandered into the old building, she did not see Optimus anywhere. Well, not in the main room. The building was large, all one floor, and L shaped. He could be in the other half of the "L". As she approched the corner, she smiled, recognizing the familiar mechanical sound that Optimus made when he moved. She poked her head around the corner and smiled, seeing her Autobot friend sitting on the ground by the wall. He didn't seem to be doing anything either. Just resting. Vivi pranced up to him, climbing up onto his ankle and sitting there, swinging her legs and smiling warmly at him.

"Hello, Optimus." She said. He looked at her, then sighed, slowly reaching out a hand to stroke her hair. Over time she'd gradually allowed him to do that. She was becoming less uncomfortable about them touching her, so she smiled when he did this.

"Hello Vivi." He returned, and his mood seemed to brighten just a bit. Vivi patted the metal surface of the Autobot's ankle and closed her eyes as he petted her head. For a minute they were quiet, simply enjoying the atmosphere of eachother's company. Again, Vivi broke the silence.

"Can I wash you?" She asked. Optimus looked at her and stared for a second, wondering what she meant. It didn't occur to him that Earth vehicles needed to be washed every now and then.

"What...?" He asked.

"There's a hose outside and I brought some stuff. Can I wash you? Ironhide said no, and nobody else is here." She explained, putting on her pouty face once again. Optimus chuckled.

"Alright, it sounds fine to me." It was a hot day outside, the temperature was getting up to one hundred, and some cool water would be nice. For the both of them. Vivi grinned and hopped off of his ankle, running outside to get her bucket. Optimus watched her leave and chuckled again, transforming into his truck form and driving out into the parking lot slowly. Vivi was just heading back from where her bike was parked, carrying the red bucket.

"I'll go see if the hose works." She said, setting the bucket on the hood of the truck and walking over to the hose. She turned the knob a few times, and was gratified to see water pouring out of the end of teh green hose. She picked it up and carred it over to her bucket, dumping the stuff out of it before filling it with water. She tossed the hose aside for a moment, and picked up the dish soap, squirting some of it into the bucket and taking off her gloves before grabbing the rag and dunking it into the soapy water. She smiled at Optimus as she started to wash his left side, scrubbing the window and the mirror on the door, her nimble hand moving over the surface of the door and the handle, water seeping into all the places that needed to be cleaned. After she'd finished with the door, she went back to the bucket to dunk the rag into it again. Then she went to clean the right side. She proceeded cleaning him like this for a while, but stopped suddenly.

"Hey, transform for me please." She said. Optimus wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but complied, deciding that she knew best in this case. He transformed into robot form, taking care not to get dust on his newly cleaned self. Vivi smiled and said,

"Help me up to your shoulder please." He wasn't so sure about that either, but reluctantly lowered his hand so he could lift her up to his shoulder. Once up there, having brought the bucket and the rag, she started to clean his head. He felt rather special about that. She took a long time at this point, tending to every bit tenderly and carefully, washing away any trace of dust or dirt present. She started out on the side of his head, rubbing the rag slowly across the metal surface. Then she stopped using the rag. She used her hands. Her small fingers slid into any crease, any nook she may have missed with the rag. He felt that same blossom of warmth within his head and spreading throughout his body as he'd felt the first time they'd made contact. It radiated from her fingertips, as they trailed across the metal surfaces. When she was finally done, she patted him on the forehead playfully.

"Hey, you in there? I need the hose, silly!" She said, smiling. Optimus snapped out of it. He glanced at her, then picked up the hose, handing it to her. It was still running so she began to rinse him off with it. After she'd finished his top half, she had him put her down so she could rinse the rest of him. As she hopped off of his hand, she turned teh hose upward, spraying it into the sky, and it fell onto her like raindrops. She laughed and danced around, spraying him and herself with the cool water. When she was done, she shook off, flicking water everywhere.

"That was great, huh?" She said. Optimus had stood up and followed her lead, shaking off too. He showered her with water droplets and she laughed, covering her head with her arms.

"Yes, that was wonderful." He agreed, looking at his sleek, clean self. Vivi looked at him too, admiring her work.. Well, that's what she convinced herself she was admiring. She knew she was really admiring how very attractive he looked all cleaned up.

"Hey, no offense, but I honestly didn't think you'd clean up this nice." She said, speaking her mind. She hadn't actually meant to say it, but it ahd slipped out anyway. Optimus was not offended. He was actually quite flattered that she thoguht so. If a human thought that, then he must look pretty good. Vivi suddenly smiled and said,

"Let's go for a drive."

--

The woman turned a corner onto her street, unsuspecting of any danger. She became aware thoguh, when her way aws barred by two smaller Decepticons. She watched, mortified as the two cars, a police car and a green car, transformed into robots and blocked her way. She pressed her foot onto the brakes, but the car was already stopping of its own accord. The hood of her car suddenly began to move as well, warping by itself. Before she could understand what was going on, she was sitting not in a seat, but in a huge robot's hand, the briefcase on her lap. She looked up at the robot slowly and let out a terrified shriek. Her _car_ was one of them? She couldn't believe it.

One of the two Decepticons (the black one) stopped and said,

"Backlash..?" The woman's car, now a female robot, nodded once.

"Yes, you idiot. It's me." The green one walked toward her, chuckling.

"I thoguht you were dead." He said, putting an arm on her shoulder and leaning on her. The woman's white car grimaced at her supposable cohort and stared at him for a moment before shoving him off. He laughed.

"Oh come on gorgeous, you gave me an' Electroshock a scare. We were missing you." The white Decepticon continued to grimace at the green one.

"I'm sure you were, considering I'm the ony flipping female Decepticon in the galaxy!" She spat, putting her free hand on her hip and looking down, shaking her head. Her gaze fell upon the woman.

"And you, we need you, so forget about going to your little home.. You're coming with us." She demanded. The woman, scared out of any defiance, nodded vigorously. The white Decepticon transformed back into robot form, and the woman found herself sitting back in the seat again, her car looking like normal. The other two transformed as well; the green one into a sleek Honda Civic Si, with orange tinted windows, the black one into an equally attractive Toyota FT-HS police car. The white car's engine revved loudly, and took off so fast that the woman was jerked back in the seat. She hung on for dear life, reaching for the seatbelt and quickly buckling it. But the posse suddenly stopped; The woman was glad she'd put on a seatbelt, because it was the only thing that kept her from flying out the front window.

"Did you see that?" The white Decepticon's voice came from the radio speakers. The voice of teh black one came in in them too as the two robots communicated.

"Yeah, Autobot in the area. Good thing you and I have those radars.." He muttered sourly, as if he didn't want to fight, but was grateful they could at least have a fair warning.

"Mhm.. You take the human, I'll check it out." The white car replied, and the door opened.

"Get out, you're going with Shock, he'll give you the gist of our plan." She demanded. The woman clutched her briefcase to her chest as she unbuckled, nodded and got out, running over to the police car. His door was already open, and he seemed to shudder as she cralwed inside.

"Uggghhh.." He grumbled, seemingly disgusted. The woman mustered up her courage and timidly asked,

"What..?" She waited in anxious silence for a reply. It came after the door had shut and he'd started driving, off in a different direction than Backlash and teh other Decepticon.

"This is so akward.. You crawling around inside of me..." He shuddered again. The woman had never really thoguht about it, but she came to a realization that it would be rather akward to be a robot and have a smaller being sitting inside of you. She tried to stay as still as possible, as to not frustrate him. She would have asked about their "plans", but he began talking before she could.

"As you know," He began, his monotone voice growing more serious and less nervous. "We wish only to annihilate the Autobots, and claim our territory. Big goals, I know." He chuckled; A deep, almost frightening sound, then continued. "You fit into this perfectly.. You wish to have power.. Immense power, do you not?" He asked. The woman blinked, her grip on the case tightening.

"Yes..." She said softly. Electroshock chuckled again.

"Of course.. And we can give you such power... But there's something you must do first, for us. I'm sure you understand you are on our side now.. If not you won't live to the end of this day.." He said darkly. The woman inhaled sharply, but nodded once.

"I am on your side. I will become a Decepticon." She said, her voice growing serious and less timid. The mechanical voice continued;

"Then you are willing to betray everyone for th-"

"Yes! I want it! I want power!" She shouted. The Decepticon laughed darkly.

"Good... Here's what we need you to do..."


End file.
